Sustainable Cities and Society 17 (2015) 35–45 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Sustainable Cities and Society jou rnal h om epage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scs Social housing tenants, Climate Change and sustainable living: A study of awareness, behaviours and willingness to adapt Carolyn S. Hayles a,∗ , Moira Dean b,1 a School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast, UK b School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Available online 21 March 2015 Keywords: Behaviour modification Climate Change Households a b s t r a c t Despite a focus in the UK on providing sustainable housing in recent years, it is unlikely that targets set to reduce resource consumption in housing will be achieved without a greater focus on human behaviour. It is necessary to understand the actions of people occupying dwellings, as it is invariably the occupants rather than the buildings that decided whether or not to consume resources. In this paper the authors present a pilot study where 53 social housing tenant households in Northern Ireland were interviewed to ascertain their perceptions of Climate Change, their current behaviours and their willingness to reduce energy and water consumption in the home. The intention was to explore links between perceptions and reported behaviour as well as perceptions and willingness to reduce resource consumption. Results show that 77% of tenants believed Climate Change to be an important issue; 57% accepted that it is up to the individual to take responsibility for tackling Climate Change; and demonstrated a strong desire to make a difference to reduce their impact. The researchers identified both passive (devices) and active (behaviours) resource savings currently in place and established where further resource reduction was feasible based on tenants’ willingness to alter their behaviours. Crown Copyright © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction 1.1. Climate Change and low carbon living The built environment is currently hugely carbon intensive. The construction and maintenance of buildings and other struc- tures is responsible for around half of UK carbon dioxide emissions (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2008). Hous- ing alone generates 27% of UK emissions, of which 73% is used for space and water heating (Constructing Excellence, 2008). This current set up is not sustainable. A number of policies and regula- tions have been put in place to try and reduce the impact the built environment has on CO 2 emissions. Most of these are technologi- cally driven, however it is becoming increasing evident that it is human behaviour that holds the key to reducing society’s reliance on carbon (Pilkington, Roach, & Perkins, 2011). ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1792 481178. E-mail addresses: carolyn.hayles@uwtsd.ac.uk (C.S. Hayles), moira.dean@qub.ac.uk (M. Dean). 1 Tel.: +44 028 9097 6561/1792 481178. A low-carbon or decarbonised society is a society that has a minimal output of greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into the environment’s biosphere. It is widely doc- umented that CO 2 emissions due to anthropogenic activity are increasingly either causing or making Climate Change worse (IPCC, 2007, 2013). Scientists are concerned about the negative impacts of Climate Change on humanity in the foreseeable future. In order to reduce the impact of the built environment on the planet and there- fore live more sustainably, it is necessary to take ownership of and reduce one’s own impact on the planet through the way in which one tackles daily decisions that involve carbon-intensive activities, particularly where there are no readily available low/zero-carbon alternatives. ‘Indoors’, where we spend most of our lives, is set to be a crucial site in which efforts to mitigate and adapt to Climate Change play out (Chappells & Shove, 2005). As we have greatest control of our circumstances in our own environments, housing is a good place to start. In this paper the authors present a pilot study where social hous- ing tenants were interviewed in order to ascertain their perceptions of Climate Change and environmental issues, their current behaviours and their willingness to reduce energy and water consumption in the home. The intention was to explore links between perceptions http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2015.03.007 2210-6707/Crown Copyright © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.